


Felixverse: In Too Deep

by MisterEAnon



Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Arguing, Bonding, Forced Nudity, Gen, Unhappy Wet Cats, Well-Intentioned Huge Mistakes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-18
Updated: 2017-06-18
Packaged: 2018-11-15 12:07:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,122
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11230626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MisterEAnon/pseuds/MisterEAnon
Summary: Lucia is pretty sure she's a great friend.After all, she loves to help people! Even if they don't ask, and even if she doesn't ask them if she can beforehand. But when things don't turn out the way she'd hoped, she's forced to confront the flaws of leaping before you look.





	Felixverse: In Too Deep

“Hey, Lucia!”

I glanced over as I jogged, already knowing who it was. Not many mammals could keep up with me, after all! “Hey, Tracy!”

Tracy was, of course, my Eternal Rival, and one of my closer friends. She didn't slow down enough to really get to know my other friends, but that was alright- I barely did, myself.

The cheetah beamed at me, tail sweeping low behind her as matched stride. “You up for a rematch? 'Cause you know I am!” she challenged, obviously excited.

When we first met, she'd taken my position as fitness instructor as a personal challenge, and sought to outperform me. We were evenly tied when it came to running, though, so she was always the most competitive there. I had a feeling she enjoyed the challenge of being neck and neck more then anything else we competed in!

“Am I- Please, am I breathing? You know I'm up for it!” I retorted, grinning back. “I am gonna lap your furry little ass so hard- Oh, hold up,” I interrupted myself, peering across the springs. We were running laps around the outer rim of the springs, quite a ways from the entrance, but I was pretty sure I could see my new favorite janitor entering the premises.

Tracy didn't follow my gaze, squinting off into the distance. “What? You afraid I'm gonna beat you?” she boasted, even as she craned her neck to get a better look.

“Nah- I think one of my new friends just arrived,” I said, stilling one of my swinging arms to point in the general direction of Felix. “Get this: He's super shy around nudity,” I told her, smirking at the thought.

“What? In Mystic Springs? No way!” She laughed, covering her mouth with a paw. “Gosh, that's awful. If that's true, why is he here?”  
  
“He works here! He got all flustered the first time I met him, walking into the locker room naked,” I revealed.

“Oh my god, that is so cute,” the cheetah tittered. “Let me guess: You just walked up to him and announced you were his friend now, right?”  
  
“You know me too well,” I admitted. “You'd have done the same,” I defended myself. “I mean, you should have seen how cute he was about it! Even though it's adorable, I really gotta help him get over that. We can barely get him to look us in the eye when we're feeling the breeze, y'know?” I said, gesturing with a paw at my own bare status.

Jeez, that was a bit of a mouthful. The sooner I could cure him of it, the less I'd have to explain it to my other friends.

My fellow feline just gave me a knowing look. If her arms weren't pumping away at her sides as we ran, she'd probably have them on her hips. “Let me guess… You're gonna 'help' him whether he asks you to or not,” she accused.

I slowed my jogging to a stop, shuffling under a nearby palm tree for the shade. “C'mon, would I do that?” I questioned her, fluttering my eyelashes.

She just punched me in the shoulder playfully. “Yes! You would TOTALLY do that,” she confirmed, leaning back against the tree-trunk with me and idly rubbing her bared back against it. “That's like, kind of your thing.”

“Maybe,” I admitted. “But it always works out, 'cause I'm just awesome like that.”

Tracy just shook her head. “Alright, I can see you've already got some kind of idea in your head. Shoo- I'm gonna beat your record for laps in one go while you go play with your new toy,” she teased.

“Pshh, no you're not,” I replied just as playfully. “But hey, have fun losing!”

The lithe feline put a paw to her heart. “Me, lose? That's it, missy- You and me, right now. Your friend will still be there in a few minutes, right? Let's race!” she announced, putting her paws to her hips.

“I dunno, Trace, I- Wait, did you just call me _missy?_ I'm no _missy_ ,” I insisted. “Fine, one race. I'm gonna make you eat those words!”

She stuck her tongue out at me. “Gonna make you eat my _dust_ , spotty-butt!” In an instant, she leapt to the ground, sprinting across the grounds on all fours and flying towards the outer rim with a speed no mammal could reach on two legs.

I laughed, bouncing away from the tree and back into the sun. “Hey, come back here! A head start is cheating!” I insisted, feeling the smile lighting up my face.

One race couldn't hurt, right?

 

( * * * )

 

It was nice, hanging out with someone my speed. Mina and the others were great and all, but there weren't too many mammals who could keep my pace _and_ shoot the breeze at the same time.

Of course, after that, we'd both worked up a sweat. We went our separate ways- As she went to cool down in the shade, I hit the showers. I still didn't really like feeling and smelling like a wet cat, but it was still best to clean up for company.

And speaking of company… Felix wasn't too hard to find, relaxing poolside. Mina was doing laps in the pool, the margay lazily doing the backstroke with a few other mammals. She really knew how to make that look relaxing- Probably since it was her job and all. “Hey, Felix! I saw you come in,” I stated by way of greeting.

The otter jumped a little, twisting his head to look at me. Guess I'd snuck up on him. “Lucia? I've… been here an hour,” he informed me, tilting his head.

Really? Whoops. Guess my race had taken longer than I'd thought. “Yeah? Already done with your shift?” Did janitors have shifts? Or were they just done when the place was clean? It looked pretty clean around here, anyway.

He relaxed a little, sitting back on the grass. “Yeah- It's pretty quiet today, so there wasn't a whole lot to clean up. And I always clean up at the end of the day, so there's nothing from yesterday--”  
  
I held up a paw. “Hold up, otter-pop,” I interrupted , noticing something. I'd almost not noticed, given how completely normal it was around here, but on _him…_ “ Are you _naked_?”

The living-pool-noodle self-consciously clutched at the towel around his lap. “Well, uh… Actually-”

“Actually,” came a voice from behind me, “I talked him into it.”

I spun around. Mina had slipped out of the water, and was dripping all over the ground. Behind her, the other mammals were vacating the pool, off to find other things to do now that their teacher had left. Was it lunchtime? I was getting kinda hungry myself, actually…

Oh, yeah, I was still curious. I glanced between the margay and the otter. “You did? How'd you pull that off?” I questioned, my tail flicking mischievously. Dang, I think Mina had already beaten me to the punch!

“Because he's not naked- I talked him down to underwear and a towel. At least, I assume he's still got the underwear,” she joked, padding past me and nudging Felix with her shoulder. He just blushed, nodding quietly. God, he was too cute. “Not a lot of activity today, so I thought we could ease him into it.”

“It's not so bad,” Felix agreed. “People wear towels around the poolside. That's normal.”

My butt hit the grass with a 'whump' as I plopped down next to him. “It's also normal to be naked at a naturalist resort,” I teased. I still was, and so was Mina. “Getting better at not staring at peoples junk yet?”

“Lucia!” the margay exclaimed, sounding offended on his behalf. I just waved her off with a paw.

“What? It's an important life skill among the nudists,” I defended myself, nodding seriously. “It's still okay to stare at the really hot dudes. Or the girls, if you're into that,” I joked.

“I… don't think I'm going to respond to that,” the otter decided aloud. He turned his head, pointedly ignoring me in favor of diverting his attention from one hot naked girl to the cute naked girl. “How's the water?”

Before she could reply, I leaned in. “Yeah, how is the water? You managed to hold your breath yet?” I asked, propping up my chin across my paws.

The tiny ocelot-a-like crossed her arms, looking defensive. “I'm working on it,” she protested. “I don't need to go underwater to teach the backstroke.”

“Uh-huh.” I wanted to help, I really did. But unlike with the rudder-tail, I didn't have a clue how. Lord knows I liked the pool even less then she did.

The otter in question looked even more uncomfortable now as I sat back. I gazed into the sky, musing. I'd only meant to rib Mina, but it looked like she'd taken it a little too personally.

Well, maybe I could make up for it with a good deed. Something like… helping Felix out. “So, you're getting better with the whole nudity thing, right?” I asked him, sitting up straight.

He nodded, shifting his attention back to me. “Well… A little, I guess,” he mumbled, sounding uncertain.

“C'mon, you're in a towel. That's way better then when you first got here!” I countered. “But a little isn't really enough yet. You gotta go whole hog! Show us your butt!” My tail swept low behind me as I grinned wide.

I heard a huff behind me, followed by a cuff to the arm. I winced, rubbing at my shoulder as I turned around to find an irritated Mina. Her visible ire with me would have been more imposing if she wasn't adorably tiny. “Lucia, seriously. You gotta let him move at his own pace,” she asserted, crossing her arms.

“Yeah, yeah. Except, y'know,” I countered with a conversational tone, “What if, and this is just a theory… We skipped all that? The faster he's okay with it, the faster he can have a normal life in Mystic Springs.” I glanced back towards Felix. “It's not like you want to be the only odd-mammal-out around here, right?”

If the otter was uncomfortable before, it definitely looked worse now. Good thing I'd be curing him of that real soon. “Well, I mean…” He stammered, eyes flitting between me and Mina.

Before either of them could object, I hopped forward, snatching one end of his towel. A quick tug pulled it loose, and I impishly flicked it onto his head, making him sputter and claw at his face, trying to remove it.

“Hey, not bad! I thought you might have been ashamed 'cause you had a tiny package or something, but you're looking pretty solid for your size down there,” I admitted. “I guess I don't gotta give you the speech about how it's oka- Ow!”

Goddamnit, that actually hurt. I turned around, glaring at the margay, who still had her claws out. “Why the hell did you do that?” I demanded.

“Because some days, it feels like it's the only way I can get you to pay attention,” she answered, sounding just as heated as I was. “You can't just do stuff like that!”

I waved a paw. “Pshh, he's fine,” I dismissed. “There's nothing weird about being naked! The faster we can make him see that, the better.”

And didn't _that_ give me an idea. “Here, let me help you with that,” I cooed, leaning over and helping Felix remove the towel from his face, flinging it blindly in Mina's direction. Judging from the soft impact against the grass, and the quiet growl of frustration, I'd hit my mark.

That done, I bent my knees, face to face with the little otter. “Hey,” I purred, gently pressing a paw to his face. “Guess what? Now that you've lost the towel, I think there's someone who wants a better look at that bod of yours.”

He fidgeted against my touch, his focus breaking as he started to furtively look around, trying to catch sight of any spying onlookers. “What? W-who?”

I hunched forward, kissing his nose. In the same motion, I smoothly pulled his underwear down with my free paw, pulling it forward around his paws and gently pulling him off his paws. I snickered as I stood up, spinning the stolen clothing around a claw. “Me!”

God, that look was priceless. This was the best idea- It was just like ripping off a bandaid, and the worst part was over. Now, he'd get to relax, and learn that it really wasn't such a big-

The otter stared down at his exposed junk for about three seconds before scrabbling to all fours. I stared at him dumbfounded as he made it from a dead stop to leaping into the nearby pool in around four seconds.

Dang, maybe I should ask him to start doing laps with me--

I stiffened as I was pounced from behind, paws grabbing and pulling at my limbs. I twisted and squirmed as my body was boarded by the margay, climbing me faster than I could even think of a response to.

She crawled around to my front, clinging to my chest with an arm around my shoulder, staring at my face for a moment. Then, her paw met my face with a force I didn't know she could put out.

“W- Ow! You just slapped me!” I exclaimed, too surprised to do anything but state the obvious. “Why the fuck did yo-”

Mina slapped me again, harder, and this time I could feel the pricks of her claws in it. My paws came up as I recoiled, shoving her off with enough force to launch her through the air.

The little cat landed on her feet, of course, and glared at me like I'd just kicked a kitten in front of her. She took a deep breath, but I could see the way her tail was stiff behind her with rage. “Lucia,” she began. “I let you get away with a lot of shit, because I know you mean well, but what the actual fuck do you think you're doing?”

I touched a paw to my face. Fur was still dry- If I had scratches, they weren't bleeding yet. “What? I'm just helping! It's like ripping off a bandaid-”

“God's sake, Lucia, forcibly stealing a mammal's clothes in public isn't like _ripping off a bandaid,_ It's borderline **SEXUAL ASSAULT!** ” the furious feline shouted up at me, paws balling up into fists at her side.

I took a step back. “Whoa- Look, he's cute and all, but I did NOT get sexual with him. I didn't even touch his dick!” Though it wasn't a bad- No, not the time.

“It doesn't matter what you _**intended**_ to do, it's what you **did**. And what you did is _not okay._ ” She pinched the bridge of her muzzle. “Sometimes I wonder why I put up with you.”

That…

That actually kind of hurt.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. After a few seconds, I closed it, slowly sitting down on the grass. “Am… I really that bad?”

“Yeah, you really kind of are,” she informed me, with such a casual tone it made me wince again. “Look. I know you're trying to help, I really do. But you just _barge in_ like your solutions are the only ones that matter. Felix… has his own issues, and he's working through them. If he's not ready yet, then he's _not ready_ and you can't just force him to live like you do because you think it's what's best for him.”

My ears went down as I stared at the ground, not wanting to look her in the eye. “I was just trying to- I mean, I _thought_ I was helping-” I started, before shutting up. “I fucked up.”

“Yes, you did,” Mina replied, arms crossed across her chest. She was- She was doing that thing. Where she was clearly upset, but she was also trying to be patient, because she was talking to one of those charity cases she treated with the kid gloves-

Oh. “I _really_ fucked up,” I mumbled, curling up and wrapping my arms around my legs. “Okay. I'll… not try to help anymore.”

She sighed. Soft foot-falls across the greenery reached my folded ears, and I found my gaze rising as she tipped my chin up with her paw. “Don't be like that,” she murmured. “You can still try to help- I know you wouldn't be able to stop yourself from trying, anyway,” she added as an afterthought. “You just need to… Think of other people.”

“I do think of other people,” I objected. It came out kind of weak, since I knew that hadn't exactly worked out for me this time. It wasn't a mewl, my throat was just all tensed up.

“I know you do. But you think of _other people's_ problems, then you think of what _you_ would do about them, and then _you_ do what _you would do_ , for them, without asking them.”

When she put it like that… I just looked away again, staring at the grass.

Mina didn't try to make me look at her again just yet. She just kept talking, even when I wasn't watching her. “You don't feel any shame about being naked,” the margay pointed out. “He does. So you can't just expect him to be as casual about this as you are.”

“I get it,” I interrupted. “I… understand. You don't gotta rub it in.”

“Some days I really wish that was true,” she muttered quietly to herself. “It's--”

I huffed quietly, turning away from her entirely. “I heard that.”

She had the decency to look sheepish for her mistake. Had I never done that? “Sorry, you're not that-” About halfway through her sentence, she apparently decided to not go for the transparent lie. “Sorry.”

I put my face in my paws, gently rubbing at my eyes and taking a deep breath. “Okay. We can talk about this later. Do- Do you think Felix will forgive me?”

She leaned in, putting a paw on my shoulder, her touch supportive. “Yeah, I'm sure he was just-” She paused. “Where's Felix?”

I sat up a little, glancing around. “I… Don't know. Do you think he went back to the locker room?

The other cat shook her head. “No, we'd have heard the splash if he'd gotten out of- The pool!”

What? No way. I scooted back, rolling lithely to my feet. “It's been like ten minutes, shouldn't he have come up for air by now?”

“Oh my god, it's been like ten minutes and he hasn't come up for air,” Mina moaned. “Is he okay? Oh my god, what if he's drowning?”

Okay, now I was starting to panic too. “He's an otter! Otters can't drown, can they?” I protested, even as I shuffled over. There he was, at the bottom of the pool. Curled up.

Not moving.

Fuck.

“Of course otters can drown! They still need air, don't they? Fuck, I- I can't go down there. I can't swim that deep,” she moaned, staring down with me. “Damn it. _Damn it,_ if I'd could only just dive, I'd… You have to go get him.”

I shivered. “You know I hate a lot of water--”

“HE COULD BE DROWNING AND YOU'RE BITCHING ABOUT GETTING WET?” Mina screeched. “For god's sake, woman, go _save him!_ ”

I looked at her. Then, I took a deep breath, and leapt into the pool.

Wet. Warm and wet and oppressing and just, all over. My fur was getting soaked, and I knew I was going to smell like wet cat when I got out, but I tried to ignore that. Instead, I forced myself deeper, scooping up the balled-up otter from the bottom of the pool. As I surfaced, slowly rising as I swam with one arm, I could feel him squirming and wiggling against my chest.

I gasped as we reached the surface. Felix braced his legs against my chest, kicking off from me and swimming across the surface towards the side. With how inexperienced at swimming as I was, there was no way I could hold onto a slippery otter in the water.

Mina got to him first, bodily hauling him out of the water. Given she was around his size, that was kind of a feat. “Are you okay?” she demanded, pulling him close and wrapping her arms around him, squeezing him tightly to her chest. “Can you breathe?!”

 _"No,”_ he wheezed quietly, squirming free by ducking beneath her hug. “-Because you're squeezing me. “Why wouldn't I be okay?”

I swam over as she started to stammer. “I- I mean, you were… You were down there for like ten minutes! I thought you'd _died!_ ” she cried out, immediately pulling him close again.

Felix just looked confused, and remarkably un-drowned as I hauled myself out of the water, flopping across the poolside concrete. I tilted my head to watch the two of them without bothering to get up. “I'm… an otter? We can hold our breath for a long time. Especially if we're just, you know… Waiting,” he mumbled into her chest.

“Hold the phone,” I interrupted, sitting up and trying to ignore the water clinging to my fur. “We were up here having a panic attack because you were _waiting for us to leave?_ ”

He squirmed. “It seemed like a good idea at the time,” he answered tentatively.

Mina gave a laugh that was only a little bit of a sob, and brushed her cheek against his neck. “Yeah, that's been going around…”

“Okay, now you're definitely rubbing it in,” I mumbled as well, standing up. “God, I look awful. I feel awful. I gotta dry off or I'm gonna be awful forever.”

“Stop whining,” Mina retorted to my aimless bitching. “You're not off the hook yet. Apologize to Felix.”

I really should. I padded my way over, hunching down to be level with the little guys. “Right. Felix, I'm sorry for- For trying to force you to join us, when you weren't ready. I was treating you like you were me.” I didn't really have the words to explain it. I just hoped he understood “Forgive me?”

I must have looked as miserable as I felt, inside and out, because he didn't look like he held a grudge. Unlike me, apparently Felix wasn't the kind of person who'd kick a kitten if he felt he was justified. “I guess I forgive you,” he started to reply, before noticing for the first time he was still naked. He gave a tiny squeak, lithely snaking his way out of Mina's grasp to hide behind her.

This was my fault. Literally all of this was. So, it was only right that I make it right. I walked away, back to where I'd caught up with the two of them what felt like hours ago, and picked up the towel I'd pulled off of him.

God I wanted to be dry right now. I tried to resist the urge to hold it against me so I could be warm again.

Instead, I turned back, holding it out to him. “Here. Cover your junk, and junk,” I offered.

He accepted it, quickly and deftly tying it around his waist. “Thanks.”

“Well, that was a nightmare,” offered my other friend. “I think I've still got half an hour until my next class… I'm gonna go eat. Felix, you want to come with?”

I could feel my ears going down. “I'm not invited?”

Mina glanced at me. “I… think Felix probably could use a little space from you right now,” she offered almost apologetically.

To our surprise, he shook his head. He seemed to be getting more comfortable, now that he was robed again. “It's okay. I wasn't angry or anything… Just deeply ashamed and completely mortified,” he admitted.

“Well, that's something… I guess,” I said in return. “Okay, let's get lunch. Oh, hold on,” I added, turning around. Almost forgot…

A brief jog and back, and I had his underwear in my hands. Once more, I held out my retrieved item to him. “Here you go.”

For a few seconds, he considered it. Then, he shook his head. “No, I… I think I'll be okay without, for now. Don't want to get them wet.” He raised his eyes from his underwear to my face, suddenly a little wary. “Just don't steal my towel again.”

“Trust me, pool noodle, you're safe for now. Promise.”

We headed off, and I figured I deserved to air-dry if it meant I could spend the time making it up to them over lunch.


End file.
